Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-10-29

~N kS'SS~ ~
1t was now nearly l O'Clock, but 1 felt
no desire for breakfast. That was an ex-
perience quite novel to me. Still I went
to a coffee. house, according to habit, and
ordered some tea and a rasher. When
they came I discovered. with a horrid
~foreboding Of worse misfortune behind,
that my taste was gone. Except that one
thing was solid and the other LIQUID, I
distinguished nothing. Nor did my sense
of smell assist me; as l found later. nv
nose was affected agreeably or disagree
ably, but 1t lost all its discriminating and
critical powers. Gunpowdsr, sulphuretted
hydrogen gas and tobacco offended my
nose. So did certain smells belonging to
cookery. On the other hand, certain
flowers, tea and claret pleased me, but I
was unable to distinguish between them.
Not only could-I not tase them, but I had
no qualification in eating them. 1 ate and
drank mechanically, because l knew that
the body must be- kept going on some.
thing.
All this knowledge, however, and more,
came by degrees. After making a forced
breakfast l bent my steps to the lawyers,
who had an Office in Lincoln's Inn Fields.
The letter was received by a conceited
young clerk in shiny black habili,nents. a
/ ~ w AkOSCs Oklu u 6Ctl SultSuSu H1An-
ner.
"Haw he said, 81 thought YOU would
soon come round to US after the letter.
Sign that, You haven't been long. None
of them are"
1t was q receipt, and I vas on the point
OF asking II 1t was to be signed in blood,
when he settled the question by giving
ME the ink.
"There, Luke Lucraft, across the
eightpenny stamp. I'm not allowed to
answer any questions you may put, Mr..
Lucraft, nor to ask you any; 90 take your
money and good morning to you. sup.
pose, like the rest of them, you don't
know the name Of your benefactor, and
would like to-yes; but you needn't ask
me, and I've orders not to admit you to
see either MI. Charges or AIr. Crackett.
They'd trouble enough with the last but
one. He broke into their office once,
drunk, and laid about him with the
ruler"
1 burst into a cold dew of terror.
However, Mr.. Lucraft, l hope YOU
will be more fortunate than your prede-
cessors."
Where are theys Who are they"
II do not know where they are, not for
u certainty" lie replied with a grin. But
we may guess. Dead and buried they are,
all OF them. Gone to Kingdom come; ali
died of the same thing, TODD. II. De-
licious trimmings killed them. Poor old
gentleman! He's too good for this world,
Us everybody knows, and the more he's
taken in the more he's deceived. Any
how, he's very unlucky in his pensioners.
He did say when the last went Off that he
would have no morc; he wept over it, and
declared that his bounty was always
abused; but there never was such q bencv-
olent old chap. only wish he'd take u
fancy to me-"
"What did you say is his name, by the
wayf'
The clerk looked ut mo with II cunning
wink.
If you don't know, I am sure | do
not" lie said. ';Hcrc is the check, MI.
Lucraft, and ! hope you will continue to
come here and draw 1t Il good deal longer
than the other chaps. But tAerc's u
blight on all the pensioners. Lord, what
n healthy chap Tom Kirby-he was Il:
Monmouth man-l0okcd when he first
came for his checks! AS strong as a bull
and as fresh as a lark"
"a good appetite had hep
"No; couldn't eat anything after IL bit;
said he fancied nothing. Lost his taste
ANy NV lhaSN away ulu ulcu Ill a
Galloping consumption before the third
month was due. Nobody ever saw him
drinking, but he was drunk every night.
regular, IKE the rest. Perhaps it's only
coincidence. Better luck to you, Mr.. I.l-
craft"
This conversation did not rcassurc me,
and ! determined to 20 over to Bucklcrs-
bury ut once and see my patron. ! found
the post against which | was leaning when
he accOsteh me-: there was no doubt about
that, for the lares and caulifiowcrs were
still in the shop window, only they looked
disgusting to me this morning. l found
the street into which he had led me, and
then-thcn-it was the most cxtraordi-
nary thing-I could not find the door by
which we entered. Not only was there
10 door, but there seemed no place where
such IL o as ] remembered could exist
i'll this little, narrow, winding street. |
went up and down twice. looked ut all
the windows. ! asked a policeman if he
had ever seen al old gentleman about the
street such as I described, or such IL negro
as Boule-dc-Eeigc; but lie could give no
information. Only as / prowled slowly
along the pavement l heard distinctly-it
gave me II nervous shock that I could
not account for-tho Internal "Cluck-
cluck! Of the negro with the cold, soft
hands, the wrinklcd skin and the fiery
red eyes. He was c%huckling at inc from
some hiding place Of his own where he
was safe. He had lone me no harm that
l knew Of, but | hated him ut that mo-
mcnt.
was by this time not At all clatcd ut
my good fortune. even craved to have
back again what 1 had sold. felt heavy
at heart, and had q presentinent Of fresh
trouble before me. thought Of the fate
OF those unknown and unfortunate prede.
cessors, all dead in consequence Of drink,
evil courses and d. T. Heavens! was I too
to die m%iserably with delirium tremens,
after had sold my taste, and conld only
tell brandy from water, Ike the cask
which might hold either, by the smell?
At 1:30-the luncheon time for all who
have appetites-the sense Of being gorgcd
came upon me again, but this time with
out the giddiness. l went to u tavern in
the Strand and fell sound asleep. When 1
awoke Mt 6 the oppression had passed
away. And now ! began to realize some
thing Of the consequences of my act. 1
say something, because worse, fAr worse.
remained behind. i was doomed, / saw
clearly, to be the victim of the old mau's
gluttony. He would eat and l should
suffer. Already, as l guessed from the
clerks statements, he had killed fou.
strong men before me. l was to he the
fifth. went again to Bucklersbury, and
sought In every house for something that
might give me q clew. I loitered in the
quiet city streets in the hope OF finding
my tormentor, and forcing him to give me
back my bond. There was no clew, and l
did not meet him. But l felt him. He
began dinner, as nearly MS ! could feel,
about 7 O'Clock; he took his meal with de